Submissions

(Illustration by Davidson Yambem for MeanPepperVine)

We accept submissions throughout the year on a rolling basis. Please refer to our guidelines below.

Thank you for your interest in submitting to MeanPepperVine. Our online literary magazine, The Mean Journal is published every quarter.

We adore tales by storytellers who try to make sense of the little questions of existence through their works, and we are looking to publish passionate works by those who love this mad chaotic world despite everything.

Our submission guidelines and policies are as below:

Submission Guidelines:

  • We accept short stories, flash fiction (upto 1000 words), non-fiction essays, photo essays, a body of artwork/illustrations, and travelogues. There is no word limit (except flash fiction) or specific genre requirement.
  • We understand that some pieces may be fluid or may be difficult to categorize. We still encourage you to submit the piece and have a conversation with the editor on how to take it forward. We do not accept poetry or book review submissions at present.
  • All prose submissions are to be sent in a .doc/.docx format.
  • For photo essays, compressed images are to be submitted in jpeg or png format along with a .doc/.docx file of the accompanying words. We may later require you to mail us uncompressed images if the essay is accepted for publication.
  • We accept simultaneous submissions. However, if a piece is accepted and to be published elsewhere, the author should immediately inform us through the same mail.
  • We also accept multiple submissions (max 2 at a time). Please send in a separate mail for each entry.
  • If your work was published in our most recent issue, we request you to please wait for at least two submission cycles before submitting again.

How to Submit:

All submissions are to be sent via email at meanpeppervine@gmail.com with the subject line – Submission – Author Name. We encourage you to include a brief 3rd person author bio (100 words maximum) along with your submission.

We do not charge a submission fee. We follow an anonymous reading process for all submissions.

We are also voracious readers who often feel very generous, and send out books from our vast library to our contributors and MPV friends. If you feel that your work would find a good home with us, do send in your entries!

Our Library

Publication:

Please note that it may take more than a month to respond to your submissions. If you haven’t heard from us for more than a month, please don’t hesitate to send us a gentle reminder on your submission mail.

Once a piece has been accepted for publication, we will notify you via email on your submission mail. Please note that we may ask you to work with us on editorial changes.

Publication Policy & Copyright:

Unless a piece has been solicited by the editor, we do not consider work that has previously been published either in print or online (including personal blogs etc.)  By submitting to us, if accepted, you grant us first electronic rights and non-exclusive archival rights. All copyright and publication rights stay with the writer. However, if the piece is published elsewhere after, we request the courtesy of giving first publication credit to MeanPepperVine.

We look forward to collaborating with you!

Team MPV

Find The Mean Journal on Instagram @MeanPepperVine